Summer time is just around the corner which means more people will be doing stuff outside which means there will be less people playing WoW which means guilds will have a hard time doing runs which means there will be more pugging. Hard to believe I just typed that huge run on sentence and the only thing Word complained about was the word ‘pugging’ – anyway! Here are some simple tips to make pugging more pleasant for all.
Tanks, for you it’s simple, don’t be egotistical jerks. Everybody likes a good tank, nobody likes an egotistical critical tank no matter how good they may be. I used to defend tanks saying they only heard from other players saying what they were doing wrong, never what they were doing right. But that was before the dungeon finder. Now tanks get nearly instant queues while those of us who aren’t tanks have to wait much longer. This means players are hesitant to boot a tank no matter how much of a wad he is ’cause better to put up with a pain than wait another twenty minutes to queue again. This has given some tanks (not all tanks) attitudes. Some think they are now game experts and can impart their wisdom on others. I’ve noticed this wisdom is imparted in the form of insults, “Are you guys noobs? Really you can’t dps better? Hey, 55, don’t frost nova!” (I notice all these comments much more when I am on my 2.5K dps DK then on my 8K DPS mage, but still I notice them.) The thing is tanks, insults don’t help others play better. Remember you’re just pushing a bunch of buttons, the people you are playing with are also just pushing a bunch of buttons. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s more fun when everybody acts like it’s a game.
DPS, pay attention and do your job. Your jobs are simple: blow things up and stay out of that green gook on the floor. Doesn’t matter how great your DPS is if you aren’t paying attention and get killed. Also, please, please don’t spam the recount totals. If the mobs are dying there is no reason to show others how awesome you are. Spamming recount just causes people to focus on those doing the most damage not the best job. Spamming recount doesn’t show people how great you are, just how big your ego is. (Once again we are all just pushing buttons here, so not a lot to be super proud of.)
Healers, I got nothing to say to you. Just please remember to heal me when I am about to die, which you almost always do. I really don’t know how healers do it. I’d be bored stiff as a healer. So a tip of my helmet to you. Healers queue almost as fast as tanks yet so far I haven’t experienced nearly the same amount of healer ego.
General communication is also of importance in a pug. It’s always nice to start out with a simple “hi”, just to remind everybody that we are all playing with other live humans. If you ask for something a “please” is always nice. It never hurts to give another player a nice compliment if they do well. Believe me, compliments go a lot farther than insults.